The Wheeling Superdawg

Happy Easter. I'll post again on Monday.

Wow, it was well over 80° F. here today. No fooling. Probably the warmest April 1 I've ever experienced in the North, and according to the weather nerds, a record high temp for this date in metro Chicago. Ants appeared on the sidewalks. So did a single, very small ladybug. As if on cue, a baseball team -- real equipment and all -- materialized in the park behind my back yard late in the afternoon and started practicing. The ping of aluminum bats announced spring, at least for a few days.

One more post about last week's sojourn to a mansion. What to do after touring a mansion exuding poshness, if you happen to be hungry? Go to a hot dog stand.

Not just any hot dog stand, but the drive-in Superdawg. Not the original, which is on the Northwest side of Chicago, but the Wheeling, Ill., iteration that opened in January. It was on our way home.

Superdawg is one of those places that gets written up and televised. Its web site (which says "hiya" when you open it), cites references in Frommer's Chicago, NorthShore Magazine, Fodor's CityGuide Chicago, National Geographic Traveler, Eat Your Way Across the USA, Midwest Living, USA Today, and other publications; as well as pieces on ABC, CBS, PBS, Fox, Travel Channel and Food Network. It's also, for some reason, in the famous (infamous) 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.*

If the Wheeling location is anything like the original, vintage 1948, it's got atmosphere, at least. The signature hot-dog mascot statues are on the roof -- one in a party dress, the other in a loin cloth -- and they appear on the food boxes and in other places around the restaurant. There are black and white tiles that made diamond patterns. There's some chrome and a little neon. The place is ringed with order stations serviced by carhops.

Each order station also has a sign that says: "We're super sorry, but we're unable to accept credit cards because of our unique drive in/carhop service..." We went inside anyway, and they don't accept cards there either. Retro indeed. But what's this about having a unique drive in/carhop service? It is not. I've been to a handful of carhop places in recent years -- one in Oregon, Illinois; another in Indianapolis; and a few others whose locations I forget, not counting Sonics.

Never mind that. The food's the thing. I had a hamburger and it was... OK. The fries were tasty enough, and the small sample of milk shake that I tried was pretty good too. I'll put the place in my book: 1,000 Places to See If You Happen to Be Nearby, But Don't Fret About it Otherwise.

* I don't own this book, but have looked at it some detail. A spot-on review by D. Kester at Amazon.com notes: "This book was written by a tourist industry writer, and it shows... it seems that a third of her recommendations are for hotels. Much of the rest are the obvious famous places. In her book fantastic nature takes a back seat to hotels. Beautiful scenery is less important than hotels. Exotic cultures are rarely mentioned unless presented as entertainment at one of her 5-star hotels. Amazing art is less important than a hotel with a nice lobby. Critical places of human history are only worth visiting if there is a good hotel nearby. The book should have been named 'My favorite hotels, plus a few other places I like.' "